


Waiting

by thisthattother



Category: Arthurian Mythology, Merlin (TV)
Genre: Gen, Modern Era, Reincarnation, but only because I have issues with Nimueh's characterisation, kinda OOC, merthur if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-31
Updated: 2015-07-31
Packaged: 2018-04-12 05:46:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4467671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisthattother/pseuds/thisthattother
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She watched him. Day after day. Waiting for the Once and Future King.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waiting

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to fanfiction.net, edited before repost.

He’d visited the lake almost every day for around a month, the same as she, following the signs that were obvious to anyone who knew how to look. He wouldn’t do anything, just stand there staring out at it for hours at a time. He hadn’t noticed her yet, and she doubted he ever would if it were left to him. It didn’t matter anyway. None of them would be hiding for much longer. She could feel it in the air just as well as he could. Arthur was returning, and soon. But until then, they were stuck in this repetitive circle. Waiting, waiting, waiting…

And then she finally felt it. The little spark of magic in the air that would build and build until it was enough to open a gateway into this world. Tonight, as the sun began to set, it would be done. She’d seen this so many times now, across Britain, and further for some. Gwen, Morgana, Lancelot, Mordred… Unnoticed by Merlin, they had all made their way back from Avalon over the past weeks. All except one.

It was a strange feeling, making the journey back towards the living. She'd been the first to return, awaking in the cold, snowy North, a place achingly similar to the vague memories she retained of her own birthplace.

After that, she'd done everything she could to make returning easier for the others. She brought Tristan and Isolde back together again when they awoke separately in France and Ireland. Guinevere was given a flat in Cardiff, which her brother was directed to when he too awoke. With a great deal of effort, she managed to hold the veil closed until all the knights were ready to return, allowing to face the new world in the manner in which they were accustomed. And Morgana, Morgana was _personally_ led to her sister, and the child Mordred, and given the means to make a new start, someplace far, far away, or face her wrath. She wouldn’t be contented with that forever, but it was as much interference as was possible, if Albion were ever to be united.

But it wasn't like their old times. Not yet at least. Not without the young Pendragon. But when he came, everything would be as it was. Magic would return and order would be restored, just as was destined. But as she watched Merlin, it occurred to her that the world could never be what it was before. Perhaps the magic of old was weak and dying, but the people in this age, a thousand years later, had found their own magic – technology. They could do things they would never have even _dreamed_ of in the days of Camelot.

But still, here they were. Waiting. As frozen in time as the day magic had claimed them.

And if Merlin had turned around just a second sooner, maybe he would have seen her. Caught her blue, blue eyes. Glimpsed that dark hair from beneath her blood red hood. And that would have been enough. That would have been enough for him to know her. But he was too late and she was gone.

Later though, when he returned to his flat, Merlin would find a note. A simple note, containing only the bare essentials, a map reference and a date, but it was still enough to lift him from the pit he'd been slipping into, for good this time.


End file.
